- Bakong, the National Bank of Cambodia’s blockchain payments facility, will now allow international transfers as a result of its partnership with Malayan Banking Berhad.
- The two firms will work together due to the high demand for international remittances between Cambodia and other countries, in particular Malaysia.
- “It dawned on me that we have a lot of migrant workers who send money home to someone and hope that the money will be used for the right purpose,” said a spokesperson for the National Bank of Cambodia.
The National Bank of Cambodia has announced that its blockchain arm has struck up a partnership with Malayan Banking Berhad (Maybank).
Bakong, a state-supported blockchain payments system operated by the National Bank of Cambodia, will work alongside Maybank to offer international money transfer payments as well as internal ones.
The move comes amid high demand for cross-border payments in and out of Cambodia.
Figures from the United Nations show that over one million workers from Cambodia are living abroad.
The National Bank of Cambodia has said that the country received US$1.2bn in remittances from international workers last year alone.
The remittance corridor that exists between Cambodia and Malaysia is thought to be particularly important.
During an online event marking the launch of the partnership, a senior figure at the National Bank of Cambodia said that there were plenty of migrant workers who were likely to experience a positive outcome once they got involved in the new service.
Chea Serey, the National Bank of Cambodia’s director general, said that women in particular might benefit from the new move.
“It dawned on me that we have a lot of migrant workers who send money home to someone and hope that the money will be used for the right purpose,” she said.
“It can turn devastating very quickly and as we know many of the migrant workers in Malaysia are usually women domestic workers.”
She went on to say that there was also a significant cost-savings dimension on offer for customers.
A senior spokesperson at Maybank emphasised demographic trends.
Dato Mohd Hanif Suadi, who serves as Maybank Cambodia’s chief executive officer, said that the age of the population was a factor.
“Cambodia has a relatively young population and we see very high mobile phone penetration, especially within the economically active age group between 14 to 49-years-old,” he said.
“I believe that in the next 15 years or potentially even sooner, Cambodia will be a fully cashless society where all payments are made electronically.”
The international money transfer sector is full of exciting and interesting providers that are there to make your life easier when it comes to remittances – check out more details about what they can offer at our reviews pages.
